olympics 2021

And Now, Another Celebrity ‘Imagine’ Video, Courtesy of the Olympics

Keith Urban performing “Imagine” during the 2021 Olympics opening ceremony. Photo: NBC

Imagine there’s no celebrity “Imagine” videos — it’s pretty hard to do if you’re watching the Olympics opening ceremony, where another one of these things just debuted. After a sweet performance of the song’s first verse by Tokyo’s Suginami Junior Chorus from the Olympic Stadium, representing Asia, the opening ceremony pivoted to celebrity video performances of the rest of the John Lennon hit, giving us flashbacks to Gal Gadot’s video from just 16 short months ago. Afropop singer Angélique Kidjo, Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz, R&B star John Legend, and country singer-songwriter Keith Urban sang, representing Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, respectively, with the moment arranged by none other than Hans Zimmer. And, to be fair, the performance didn’t seem to be inspired by Gadot & Co. as much as past Olympics ceremonies, after a group of Korean singers covered the song during the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Games. As NBC’s Savannah Guthrie put it afterward, “If the games were a song, ‘Imagine’ would be the song.” Aside from the whole countries-competing-against-each-other bit, sure!

Now, Another Celeb ‘Imagine’ Video, Courtesy of the Olympics